Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 113

“More importantly, why don’t you stop coming back injured? How come you come back injured every time you go out? Don’t you know how to fight? At the very least, you could carry a gun…”

Damian was getting tired of Casey returning injured every three days. He could understand the first couple of times, attributing it to carelessness, but this was just giving his body away too easily. Especially for a 90% spirit.

“I know how to shoot and fight, but most wounds heal in a day for me, so I don’t worry too much about getting hurt. And to be honest, I don’t really like shooting guns. The sound is too loud and attracts attention.”

Damian ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.

“Just don’t let Lilliana find out. I’m running out of excuses.”

“Got it.”

Casey nodded briefly and stood up.

“Thanks as always.”

At Casey’s thanks, Damian scratched his arm, which had broken out in goosebumps.

“What’s that about? I know how to say “thank you” too, you know?” Casey retorted, feeling a bit offended. Then, he smiled again and left the room.

Left alone, Damian fell into thought. Over the past month, he had combined the information Casey had with the intel he gathered by hiring informants to get a general grasp of the royalist faction’s movements.

The problem was that the informants didn’t know Seidel Luriantz was a wizard, leaving a gap in their intel. The most important thing was to restrain Seidel Luriantz first.

Casey kept coming back injured, and Lilliana was living every day in fear of an attack that could happen at any moment. This situation had to be resolved quickly.

Damian’s head ached, and he pressed his fingertips against his scalp. He was confident in his strategic thinking, but still… he was starting to miss his military life, where he simply followed orders without thinking.

***

Summer was in full swing.

Sitting in the shade offered some relief, but stepping out into the sun felt like your skin was sizzling.

Damian sat on a bench under the shade of a tree, flipping through his notebook, jotting things down, and sometimes scratching his head with the end of his pen in contemplation.

He was dressed lightly for the summer weather, but not wanting to expose his prosthetic arm, he wore a long-sleeved shirt.

His slightly lowered blue-gray eyes were partially hidden by his dark brown hair, but his appearance was so handsome that women passing by would glance at him.

However, Damian was too focused to notice.

“Damian!”

Lilliana came running towards him from afar, waving her hand like a rabbit hopping.

Damian packed his things into a small bag and stood up. He naturally took Lilliana’s bag from her and smiled.

“How was class?”

Lilliana clasped her hands together and said with a delighted expression, “It was so much fun. Professor Irina Cassirer is a great artist, and she’s also a talented teacher. She’s such a wonderful person. She even accepted me as an exchange student even though I’m from a different school.”

It was the start of the summer semester at universities.

Unable to bear her boredom, Lilliana had applied to Shenven University in Nichio as an exchange student to take summer classes.

Her application had been approved, and she had just finished her first class at Shenven University.

“I’ve always admired Professor Cassirer. Actually, my painting style is heavily influenced by hers… But the university was far away, and I had no opportunities to meet her, so I had half given up on learning from her directly.”

Seeing her chatter about things he hadn’t even asked about, Lilliana seemed to be in quite a good mood today.

“After seeing my paintings, she invited me to her private atelier! Of course, I said yes! I’m only taking one class at Shenven University, so I have a lot of free time, right? And I don’t have anything else to do. If I go to the atelier during that free time, I can paint to my heart’s content, interact with other people, and it’ll be so much fun. I can even see the professor after the summer semester ends!”

“That’s great.”

“What did you do, Damian?”

“I…”

Damian considered making something up, but he decided to be honest about what he had done today.

“After entrusting Casey with your protection, I went to an informant and paid them handsomely to gather information on Marquis Sutton’s movements and a list of everyone he’s been in contact with.”

“…You’re kidding, right?”

Lilliana asked with an awkward smile, unsure how to react to Damian’s blunt honesty. But Damian replied with his usual indifferent expression.

“I wish this was just a casual pastime for me too.”

“Anyway, did you get anything useful?”

“It’s been a month since I hired the informant. It would be a problem if I hadn’t gotten anything. At the very least, I’ve grasped the connections between the people involved.”

“I’m sorry, Damian.”

“What for?”

“I feel like you’re going through a lot because of me.”

“Lilliana… I keep telling you, I’m hired to do this. And I get paid regularly, so you don’t have to feel sorry for me. Besides, Casey is sharing half the burden, so it’s not particularly difficult.”

Lilliana looked around and, realizing that only Damian was there, asked,

“Speaking of which, is it really okay for brother to be going around alone?”

At her words, Damian clutched his head as if another headache was coming on.

“Honestly, I’m a bit worried.”

“Right? So brother needs someone to protect him too…”

“But he’s likely to just burn the attackers without mercy…”

“…”

“But I did tell him to make sure he gets rid of any evidence.”

“I’m worried about you too.”

“Lilliana, as I just said, I’m hired to do this, so there’s no need to worry…”

“This is a different kind of worry.”

When Damian tilted his head, not understanding what she meant, it seemed like it was Lilliana’s turn to get a headache.

“But you see, you and brother seem to be talking about this quite casually, but you can’t just go after them even though you know who the ringleader is. Besides, there’s no progress in finding the wizard, Seidel, not to mention Sigmund Sutton or Charlotte Shelbyr. In this situation, can you really make them give up on chasing me?”

“It’s not something to be pessimistic about yet.”

Damian spoke in his usual tone, but his words weren’t lighthearted.

“At the very least, if we can take out the mage Seidel, they won’t have any effective moves left. Seidel is probably their greatest weapon.”

“But I really don’t understand… Public opinion of the nobles isn’t very good right now, so why are they still trying to restore the monarchy? Isn’t it more likely to fail anyway?”

“Lilliana, the nobles who are siding with Sigmund Sutton hate the current situation more than death.”

“Why?”

“They consider it shameful to wear the same clothes and eat the same food as commoners. That’s why they’re protesting, demanding the same power they had before. That’s the nature of power once you’ve held it. And they believe they’re doing something great for a righteous cause.”

“Because they think they’ve sacrificed and worked hard for this country all along?”

“That’s right.”

“But considering noblesse oblige, didn’t those people contribute much to independence during the colonial period?”

Lilliana said sarcastically, and Damian nodded.

“Those who packed their bags and fled the country, only to return later, are the better ones.”

“I really don’t understand those people.”

“Anyway, Lilliana, don’t worry too much about it and just focus on what you need to do. Casey and I will take care of this.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Paint.”

“So you’re saying I should just watch you and brother Casey run around?”

“Lilliana… I was hired by you and Ms. Pascal to do this. If you insist on getting involved, your job is to simply supervise and make sure I’m doing my job efficiently.”

“Ah, stop saying it like that. It makes me feel like a heartless employer.”

Lilliana tucked her hair behind her ear and asked again, “It’s not dangerous, is it?”

Damian was unsure how to answer that question. With Casey frequently coming home injured and himself starting to poke around, there was no telling when or where they might be caught and eliminated by some assailant.

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